Reynolds American

The number of underage teens who smoke cigarettes has dropped since regulators began imposing stiff advertising restrictions in the 1970s. But a new report from the Centers for Disease Control says the number of young people who say they're exposed to ads for electronic cigarettes has skyrocketed.

The Triad region was a case study for many of North Carolina's top news stories in 2015. Greensboro is part of the lawsuit against the latest round of redistricting in the state. The merger between Reynolds American Inc. and the Lorillard Tobacco Company rocked the local economy. Many of the effects of the 2015 events will carry into the new year.

Reynolds American and the Lorillard Tobacco Company are expected to approve a $27.4 billion buyout at shareholders' meetings later this month. The move is part of a new generation of smoking where rolled cigarettes are giving way to e-cigarettes, raising the question of whether tobacco will actually be a part of Tobacco Road in the future. Host Frank Stasio talks with Richard Craver, reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal, and Andrew Brod, economics professor at UNC-Greensboro, about the evolution of the tobacco industry in North Carolina.

It might seem counterintuitive: a tobacco giant jumping into the pharmaceutical market. But with the national launch of Zonnic, Reynolds American thinks it can redefine an area typically controlled by drug companies.

Zonnic is Reynolds's nicotine gum. It sells for cheaper than other nicotine gums, and comes with the marketing muscle of the company responsible for Camel and Pall Mall. Reynolds has been testing Zonnic for two years in Iowa and Nebraska, and has determined its time to go national.

America's second and third-largest tobacco companies have announced the terms of a potential merger. Reynolds American Inc. will buy Lorillard for $27.4 billion. The Newport cigarette brand will follow Lorillard to Reynolds, where it will join Camel and Pall Mall, and VUSE (Reynold's e-cigarette brand).

Reynolds is based in Winston Salem, NC. Lorillard is located in Greensboro.

Reynolds American is now distributing its electronic cigarettes nationally. The Vuse vapor product had been widely available in only four states until now. It became the top-selling E-cigarette in Utah and Colorado last year. E-cigarettes heat a liquid nicotine solution in a disposable cartridge that is then inhaled. Vuse is a battery-powered, smokeless vapor product.